High-End Watches

Watch Snob: Can Normal Guys Wear High-End Watches?

Fine timepieces are typically the province of the upper class due merely to their price, but if you can afford it and can justify the purchase, you should be able to enjoy it as much as the VP whose thumb you're no doubt under.

The Watch Snob is in.

Is It Appropriate To Wear An Expensive Watch?

I've been a huge fan of Patek Philippe and have wanted to purchase the Nautilus ever since I laid eyes on it at the turn of the century. I have finally been able to raise the funds in order to finance this timepiece, but now I have some second thoughts. I'm not of money, and this watch costs almost as much as I make in a year. I'm also not accustomed to high circles, and all my friends are from the same socioeconomic background as I am. I love the Nautilus for its micro-engineering, history, design, and masculinity, but would it be appropriate for me to wear such an expensive watch? Wouldn't I be better off with a watch that suits my current financial and social status. And, if so, what watch would you recommend for a 35-year-old, middle class, educated person, for whom this will probably be the only high-end watch he'll ever purchase?

The question you really need to ask yourself is, if you have coveted the Nautilus for over a decade, will you be happy with anything else? I doubt it. And indeed it is a fine timepiece, a Gerald Genta design masterpiece and Patek’s only worthy sports watch to date (the Aquanaut is unmentionable). Despite the fact that the watch is worth your annual salary, you state that you already have funds set aside for it. Now, if you were buying it on credit and risking great financial ruin, I might suggest a different tack, such as higher education, a better job or marrying rich.

Does the Nautilus suit your so-called socioeconomic level? Who cares? Fine timepieces are typically the province of the upper class due merely to their price, but if you can afford it and can justify the purchase, you should be able to enjoy it as much as the VP whose thumb you’re no doubt under. If your low-life friends can’t appreciate it, I suggest you find some new friends.

If this is truly the only fine watch you'll ever purchase, you could hardly choose better. The Nautilus will be durable and versatile enough to wear for almost any occasion, and a Patek is actually a good financial investment and a fitting heirloom.

Omega's Golden Decade

When my grandfather passed away, he left me two watches: An early '70s Timex Electronic, which is a really cool-looking watch but besides the sentimental value is worthless (I love it nonetheless), and the second watch he left me is a mid-'60s automatic Omega Seamaster De Ville. It’s an absolutely beautiful watch, keeps excellent time and is in flawless condition. It is also the reason that I became obsessed with real watches. The watch has a 14K gold front and a flat stainless steel back without the typical Seamaster stamped logo. Is it worth less because it has a plain back? Were the plain backs primarily for inscriptions (there is none on this watch)?

It could be argued that the 1960s was Omega’s decade. It released a string of great watches across all its product lines and finished the decade with one of its watches on the moon. Then, after emerging from the quartz crisis, it decided it wanted to be Rolex. What a shame. But I digress, and Omega’s current misguided ambitions do not diminish your fine timepiece. In fact, your grandfather’s De Ville is a fine emblem of the brand’s golden age: an elegant but unpretentious watch with a solid manufacture movement.

Most '60s Omegas that I have seen have so-called signed casebacks, and it is curious that yours has an unsigned steel caseback instead of gold. There is no telling how this came to be, whether the watch was sold this way or if the caseback was replaced at some point. However, seeing as this is a watch passed down to you, I’m guessing you have no intention of selling it, so any discussion of its value, diminished or otherwise, is moot.

Question From A Watch Knob

I have my heart set on a Lange (I’m getting an erection just thinking about it). While searching for a Lange, I happened to see that many people are taking vintage Lange pocket watches and converting them into wristwatches. They are taking 43-mm pocket watches, slapping a leather band on them and selling them for $6K a pop! So, tell me, is this a horological travesty?

Please keep your fetishistic perversions to yourself. I shudder to imagine what would happen if you actually come to possess a Lange & Söhne, though I can see why you’d prefer one in your pocket than on your wrist.